Palo Alto Networks: Color on Quarter
- FBR Capital raises their PANW tgt to $105 from $90 on higher estimates; they applaud the company's solid F4Q results/F1Q guidance and believe that robust secular trends will add more fuel to PANW's growth engine heading into FY15. Palo Alto is clearly firing on all cylinders in the field despite intense competition from other vendors in the network security market, and they expect it to benefit from the rapidly growing next-generation firewall (NGFW) market with strong subscription/support attach rates and cross-sell opportunities with Cyvera.
- Needham raises their PANW tgt to $110 from $95; Q4 was an exceptionally strong year-end quarter, with revenue, billings and guidance for F1Q all above consensus. The standout metric of the quarter was billings growth of +64% y/y, best in the last six quarters, and a signal of acceleration. In their field discussions, it is clear to them the spending urgency on network security (breach and APT in particular) is top-of-the-list in IT, and PANW appears to be a major beneficiary. Guidance, although above the Street, likely remains conservative.
- Northland Capital raises their PANW tgt to $110 from $95 Growth rates across Palo Alto's key metrics accelerated in a robust F4Q; strong firewall growth should aid FTNT, CHKP.
- Oppenheimer raises their PANW tgt to $100 from $90. PANW reported strong 4Q14 results across all geographies, product lines, and verticals with most metrics (revenue, billings, deferred revenue) beating expectations nicely. The strong performance was driven by: 1.) Strong demand and attach rates for Wildfire (APT solution); 2.) High-end appliance seeing continued uptake; 3.) Internal investments paying dividends (S&M); and 4.) VM series appliances gaining further traction.
- Topeka Capital Markets raises their PANW tgt to $100 from $98 following a spectacular 4QFY14 earnings report. While numbers were very strong across the board, the most stunning number was the 64% YoY billings growth which compared to 46% YoY growth in 3QFY14 and was the fastest growth since 2QFY13. Once again, data center appliances and security subscriptions led the way.
- Dougherty & Company raises their PANW tgt to $115 from $95; they believe PANW has a highly differentiated platform which has disrupted the traditional security suppliers, and the co continues to innovate ahead of the competitive landscape. The results indicate the co has the ability to capture share, grow revenue ahead of TAM and competitive landscape, and acquire customers at a rapid clip (plus 1000 new adds for eleven consecutive quarters).
- Piper Jaffray: tgt to $110 from $100
- PANW is trading at a new all time high in the premarket above $93/share.